Switzerland: We must continue to sort our waste despite the crisis – Switzerland

The Swiss must continue to sort recyclable materials and collect them separately, Swiss Recycling said on Monday. Only households in which sick or quarantined people live must temporarily refrain from sorting their waste.

TheFederal Office for the Environment (FOEN) issued this notice to these households in a press release issued on March 19. He claims that he had “under no circumstances” the intention that others would also renounce selective collection.

For Switzerland to function properly in this extraordinary period, it is necessary not only to guarantee the country’s supply, but also the elimination of waste, insists Swiss Recycling.

The usual safety rules such as keeping your distance and washing your hands regularly apply, specifies the FOEN. Waste incineration plants and collection agencies are doing everything they can to maintain logistics and protect their employees and customers.

Avoiding an elimination crisis

In Switzerland, more than 16,000 tonnes of urban waste are produced every day. Half is thermally recovered in thermal waste recovery plants (UVTD), the other half is recycled.

In order to prevent any disposal crisis despite the current exceptional situation, it is not only necessary to maintain the infrastructure and logistics, but also essential to continue the separate collection of recyclable materials such as glass, PET, metal packaging , textiles, electrical appliances and batteries.

If everything was thrown in the same bin, not only would the recyclable materials be lost, but the UVTDs would also be brought to the limit of their capacities. (ats / nxp)

Created: 30.03.2020, 20h58

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